Beef Lok Lak is a famous Khmer dish that is ubiquitous on restaurant menus and at street stalls all over Siem Reap. Chef Chanrith Van of Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort takes it up a notch by applying his classical culinary training to this local favourite; he uses local beef, and ages it in-house to achieve a melt-in-your-mouth texture. This in turn allows him to cut the beef in cubes (Lok Lak literally means “cube” in Cambodian), rather than slice it thinly, which is how most places serve it nowadays.

Watch the full video to see how it’s made >>

Recipe for Beef Lok Lak (4 parts) –

1) Beef Lok Lak

(Portion size: 1)

INGREDIENTS:

130g aged beef or rib eye
Pinch of salt
1 tsp olive oil
4 Tbsps Lok Lak Sauce
1 quail egg
5 shallots, sliced
5 cherry tomatoes, sliced
10g watercress
5g fresh green peppercorns
5g edible red & yellow flowers

METHOD:

1. Season beef with salt, set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Heat wok to a very high heat, add oil and sear beef on both sides until medium rare. Rest for 5 minutes.
3. Cut beef into 1.5cm cubes.
4. Fry quail egg sunny side up.
5. Wash wok, heat and add oil. Add Lok Lak sauce and beef, and fry briefly until beef is medium cooked.
6. Spoon beef on plate, drizzle with Lok Lak sauce, then arrange shallots, tomatoes, leaves, peppercorns and flowers, and top with a teaspoon of lime and pepper dip.

2) Lime & Pepper Dip

INGREDIENTS:

1 green lime, medium
1 tsp fresh crushed black peppercorns
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt
¼ tsp chicken seasoning powder
¼ tsp fried garlic

METHOD:
Combine ingredients and mix well. Make to order.

3) Aged Beef

(Chef Chanrith Van would not recommend doing this if you don’t have the proper equipment for it. He suggests using rib eye steak instead of ageing the beef yourself.)

INGREDIENTS:

500g fresh beef tenderloin, cut into 130g portions
Vacuum bag & sealer

METHOD:

1. Place beef in vacuum bag and seal using vacuum machine.
2. Hang beef in refrigerator at 0-2’C for 7-14 days.

4) Lok Lak Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp corn oil
5g garlic clove, thinly sliced
2.5g white onion, finely chopped
0.5 tsp kampot peppercorn, crushed
10g palm sugar
18g oyster sauce
¼ tsp soya sauce
2 tsps tomato ketchup
¼ tsp dark (thick) soya sauce
3 Tbsps chicken stock
¼ tsp chicken seasoning powder
2 tsps extra corn oil

METHOD:

1. Over medium heat in wok, add oil, garlic and onion. Saute until golden in colour.
2. Add black crushed pepper and palm sugar; cook until sugar is caramelised and golden in colour.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer; finish with oil, then cool down. Shelf life 6 days.

* Substitute palm sugar with white sugar if unavailable

My Wok Around Asia Siem Reap trip was made possible through the support of the following –

The post How to Cook Khmer Beef Lok Lak first appeared on Jackie M..

The most popular version of Long Yoke, aka Bak Kwa, is made with pork, but since I don’t eat pork, I make mine with chicken mince. I could have sworn my parents used to make it with sliced beef as well, but it’s late as I type this, and I don’t want to wake my poor stepmom up with a phonecall to check.

In any case, in this Live Asian Kitchen broadcast, I had some beef mince (not sliced beef) to use up, so I decided to make a batch with it, and it was far superior, in my opinion, to the chicken mince version. It didn’t help that the chicken I was using was a fine mince (unlike the coarser grind I used to use when I made it for my business), so the texture came out weird, like devon.

Watch the Live Asian Kitchen replay to see how it’s done from start to finish >>

This was the recipe I dug up from my restaurant files, though in all honesty I can’t be sure if it was really the same one we used back in the day (I haven’t made it in years), since I vaguely remember adding red food colouring to ours, which isn’t listed here.

Nonetheless, it turned out fine, so here it is –

Adapted from Tazz in the Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

500g minced chicken

1 1/2 Tbsps fish sauce

1 Tbsp thick soya sauce (aka cooking caramel)

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp 5 spice powder

1 tsp oil

METHOD:

1. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl, use a pair of chopsticks or a fork and stir vigorously in one direction until a gluey paste is formed.
2. Pre-heat oven to 125°C.
3. Place meat on a large piece of parchment paper.
4. Cover with clingfilm.
5. Roll into a thin sheet (about 2mm thick).
6. Bake at 125°C for about 20 mins.
7. Increase temperature to 180°C and bake for about 20-30 mins or until the sides are charred.
8. Cool and cut into pieces.

The post How to Make Chicken or Beef Bak Kwa (Barbecued Minced Meat) first appeared on Jackie M..

INGREDIENTS:

(A)

600g minced beef

200g minced chicken

4 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp minced lemongrass

2 tsps sugar

1 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp chicken powder

———————

12 lemongrass stems

2 Tbsps oil

———————

6 Vietnamese baguettes

3 tsps chilli sauce

3 tsps hoisin sauce

METHOD:

1. Combine (A) and mix well.
2. Divide into 12 portions. Mould into sausage shapes wrapped around lemongrass stems.
3. Brush with oil, then grill on medium heat for 6 minutes.
4. Remove from lemongrass stems and place 2 pieces on baguette.
5. Drizzle with hoisin and chilli sauce, and serve.

The Ziggy barbeque used in this series was sent to me courtesy of Ziegler and Brown. For more information about this and others in the range, visit www.ZieglerAndBrown.com.au 

For your chance to win one of two Ziggy Barbeques, Follow me on Twitch at Twitch.tv/JackieMFood – I’ll be drawing the winners at random once I hit 2000 Followers. The only other requirement is that the winner will need to nominate an Australian address for delivery, or be able to pick up the prize from an Australian outlet of Barbeques Galore.

The post How to Cook Vietnamese Beef and Lemongrass Skewers (Nem Lui Xa) – Asian BBQ Series first appeared on Jackie M..

It’s an unspoken fact within the extended Tang clan (no, none of us is called Wu) that my brother C.S. is in fact the real foodie in the family. (He’s also a bit of a show-off, which is why his culinary efforts are rarely acknowledged by the rest of us.) C.S. posted a photo of his latest meal on Whatsapp a couple of days ago – what we call Kon Chau Ngau Hor ie. stir-fried beef with fresh rice noodles, Cantonese-style.

I decided to have a go at his recipe, which is a mutation that I’ve no doubt will make me some Cantonese enemies. Fish sauce is not an ingredient you’ll find in traditional Cantonese cooking after all, but it adds a je ne sais quoi (in Canto, ngo em chee mutt) to this dish so I’m keeping it in.

Cantonese Stir-fried Beef Noodles

INGREDIENTS:

• 100g sliced beef (skirt or topside)
• 1 tsp bicarb of soda or baking powder + 1 tsp water
• 1 tsp Chinese rice wine
• 1 tsp ginger juice
• Dash of pepper
• Dash of fish sauce
• 1 tsp tapioca flour

• 200g fresh rice noodles (wide-cut)
• 1 ½ tsps fish sauce
• 1 ½ tsps oyster sauce
• ½ tsp thick soya sauce aka cooking caramel
• Dash of chicken powder
• 1 stalk green onion, sliced into 3-inch lengths
• ¼ cup beansprouts or Chinese greens
• ½ tsp pepper
• Dash of sesame oil
• 2 Tbsps cooking oil
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

METHOD:

1. Marinate beef with bicarb of soda + water for 5 minutes. Rinse with cold water and pat dry.
2. Add rest of marinade ingredients and mix well. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Heat ½ Tbsp oil in wok until it starts to smoke.
4. Add beef and fry for about 1 minute, then remove.
5. Heat wok again without adding any oil, until it begins to smoke.
6. Toss in noodles and allow to scorch, adding a drizzle of oil.
7. Add fish sauce and fry quickly. Add more oil as required.
8. Add beef, oyster sauce, thick soya sauce and chicken powder.  Mix well, then add vegies, and pepper.
9. Adjust seasoning, then remove from heat. Add dash of sesame oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if using) before serving.

The post How to Cook Cantonese Beef Noodles (Kon Chau Ngau Hor) first appeared on Jackie M..